F-16 fighter jet crashes in Michigan — as wingman’s frantic call hints at cause: ‘Gonna have to get out’

An F-16 Fight Falcon warplane has crashed over northern Michigan during a training excercise — and frantic radio traffic captures the moment the pilot’s wingman reported him going down. 

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The Texas National Guard pilot safely ejected from the F-16 fighter jet before it crashed and burst into flames in Grand Traverse County in northern Michigan.

““We have a possible mayday by wingman, I believe may have taken a bird,” a pilot with callsign “Buck 11” told air traffic control in a recording.

Buck 11 told air traffic control a suspected bird hit his wingman’s plane and took out an engine.

The controller tried to guide the pilots to a nearby airport, but Buck 11 advised that his wingman was about to eject.

“Alert emergency services!…He’s gonna have to get out, and it’s gonna be in the town that I’m overhead now,” Buck 11 says.

The jet, flying with the 149th Fighter Wing from Lackland, Texas, went down after a “mishap,” the unit confirmed.

The pilot ejected and is being treated at a nearby hospital. He is awake and alert after parachuting to the ground, Blair Township Supervisor Nicole Blonshine told The Post.

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“We are currently investigating the mishap,” a spokesperson for the 149th Fighter Wing told The Post.

Blonshine did not believe anyone on the ground was hurt or any houses were damaged, but revealed she could hear the crash from her home.

“It sounded like a huge explosion. I ran out and I saw a big smoke plume, and my first thought was somebody’s house blew up,” she told The Post.

A command post has been set up in the Blair Township hall, she added, and county authorities issued an evacuation order for all residents within one mile of the crash site.

“Evacuate within 1 mile of the site. Evacuate away from the intersection of Co Rd 633 and Jefferson Pl. Follow instructions from emergency personnel,” Grand Traverse County Emergency Management posted on social media.

The F-16 unit is in Michigan for training at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center.

The jets were scheduled for a flyover of a high school football game Friday night, the Alpena News reported.

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